Ciabatta feels like an ancient Italian bread, but Arnaldo Cavallari created it in 1982 in Adria, in Italy’s Veneto region, to fight the imported French baguettes that were taking over Italy’s sandwich market. This episode tells how weeks of experiments produced a new bread designed to save his bakery.

We explain the science of a very wet, high-gluten dough that spreads into a slipper shape and traps steam, creating large holes that soak up flavor without going soggy. Then we follow Cavallari’s licensing model through Molini Adriesi, which took ciabatta to Marks and Spencer in the UK by 1985, to Cleveland by 1987, and to 11 countries by 1999.

• Why French baguettes threatened Italian bakers in the early 1980s
• How high hydration and strong gluten create ciabatta’s open, airy crumb
• Why Cavallari named his bread after a carpet slipper
• How licensing the flour, method and brand let ciabatta spread without new factories
• Regional versions from Lake Como to Rome, plus whole wheat and milk variations